For those of you who were not able to be in San Diego for Comicon:
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The rest is silence.
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Tags: conventions
Coming to San Diego
July 13, 2013 at 5:18 pm
The next convention on my calendar is the San Diego Comicon.
My dance card is already almost full. Yes, there will be a GAME OF THRONES panel, and I'll be on it. It is scheduled for Friday, July 19, 2:50 to 3:45, in Hall H To be followed by an autographing at the WB booth. Of course, I'll be joined on the panel by half a dozen cast members (no, don't know which ones yet) and David and Dan.
I will also be doing a signing on Saturday, July 20, from 11:00am to noon, in the official autograph area. That one is for Bantam.
Working on two more signings: one for Avatar Comics, which will be launching their new comic of THE SKIN TRADE (based on my novella, scripted by Daniel Abraham) at the con, and one with the marvelous Gary Gianni, the artist for the 2014 ICE & FIRE calendar, which will debut in San Diego. Details on those when I have 'em.
I am not on any panels besides the one for GAME OF THRONES, nor will I be doing any readings (come to worldcon for that), but there should be plenty of chances for anyone who wants me to deface their books, maps, games, videotapes, or body parts with my illegible scrawl. But PLEASE, if you want my autograph, come to one of these four signings. Don't stop me in the hotel lobby or on the street or in a restaurant when I am trying to have dinner.
ADDENDUM: SIGNING DETAILS
I now have the details on another of my signings, so I thought I would add them here.
On Thursday, 2:00 – 3:00 pm, I will be signing copies of the 2014 ICE & FIRE CALENDAR, together with the amazing Gary Gianni, the artist. The signing will take place at Gary's booth, Booth #4902/ 4904 on the convention floor. First come first served, as usual… Gary has only 150 copies of the calendar, and I can only be there for an hour. Though this is a signing for the CALENDAR, not my books, I will autograph ONE (1) book for anyone who buys a copy of the calendar. As in other recent events, I will be doing only signatures, no inscriptions. Sorry, I'd love to, but time does not allow. Gary may or may not be doing inscriptions, don't know, that's his call.
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Tags: conventions, skin trade
Dany and the Dragons
July 8, 2013 at 3:38 pm
What's that, you ask? Dany and the Dragons? A forgotten rock group of the doo-wop era?
NO! It's a special variant cover for issue #15 of the GAME OF THRONES comic, available only (or so we are told) at the San Diego Comicon, as a comicon exclusive.
This special alternate cover was requested and commissioned by our friends at Mile High Comics, in cooperation with Dynamite Comics. It is my understanding that it will be available only at the Mile High booth. (Though of course the same issue, with the regular cover, will be available from numerous dealers at the con).
The artist is Fritz Casa.
((Before you all start posting messages and sending emails… yes, we're well aware that the scene depicted does not actually occur in this issue. In fact, Dany's dragons have not even hatched yet in the comics, that's a good ten issues in the future. And even when they do hatch, the dragons won't be that big until, oh, STORM OF SWORDS or so. [A couple of other things here are also bigger than I'd envisioned]. No need to point all this out. My editors and I pointed it all out already to Dynamite and Mile High, but this is the cover they wanted. Artistic License, and all. The Mike S. Miller cover, with a completely different scene, will also continue to be available.))
I am told that Dynamite printed 1500 copies of these for Mile High… but with 150,000 fans at comicon, there's no telling how long they will last. So if you want to snag one, I'd advise you to hit the Mile High booth early.
(Yes, that's Froggy. No, there's no casting clue in this post. I just missed the lil' guy. Hiya, kids, hiya, hiya.
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Headed for Conquest
May 21, 2013 at 11:24 am
I hear that everything’s up to date in Kansas City, so I’ll be headed that way tomorrow to see for myself.
ConQuest beckons; KC’s annual regional convention, one of the best. Should be a good time. Patrick Rothfuss is GOH, John Picacio will be there, along with Brad Denton, Caroline Spector, and all of my old KC friends and partners in crime. I’ll be doing a reading, doing a panel, eating too much barbeque, drinking too much bheer.
And even before the con, we’ll have the road trip. I will be hitting the road with my Aussie friends, and driving right through the heart of Tornado Alley, which should be an… ah… adventure. If you’re in Oklahoma or Kansas and think you see me passing by, you may be right. The Big Well beckons… along with Dorothy’s House, Pancake Boulevard, the Cosmodrome, and the Elevator of Terror (you can’t make this stuff up).
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Tags: conventions, travels
Coming to Texas
March 12, 2013 at 11:20 am
I have a lot of readers in Texas, it would seem. Every time I make a book tour or attend a convention or blog about my travels to Europe or Australia or wherever, I get a rush of emails asking, “When are you coming to Texas?”
I can finally give the answer you Texans want to hear: I am coming to Texas NEXT WEEK.
I will be flying in on Thursday, March 21, to College Station, home of Texas A&M University, where my papers and manuscripts and such are all on deposit in Special Collections at Cushing Memorial Library. (A&M has one of the country’s great SF and fantasy collections, a treasure trove for scholars of the genre). I’ll be doing a reading, a signing, and speaking at a fundraising dinner, and many of my manuscripts and papers and collectibles will be on display.
More information here: http://deeperthanswords.library.tamu.edu/
The library events, scheduled for March 21 and March 22, are all sold out, alas.
However, immediately after “Deeper Than Swords” comes AGGIECON, A&M’s storied sf/fantasy convention. I am staying for that one as well, so if you miss me on Thursday and Friday, you can still catch me on Saturday and Sunday.
You can check out the Aggiecon details at http://cephvar.tamu.edu/aggiecon .
Sign up there or at the door. Besides me, Aggiecon 44 (I told you, this is an old and storied convention) will also feature Ernest Cline of READY PLAYER ONE fame, and a number of other great guests. Ty Franck (also known as the back half of James S.A. Corey) will be coming with me, Howard Waldrop says he’ll be coming down from Austin, and some of my other Wild Cards writers may turn up too.
Last time I attended an Aggiecon it was… oh, I don’t know, 1980 or thereabouts… but I have fond memories of past visits to A&M, most of them involving great Texas barbeque, too much bheer, pretty college girls, and Aggies in uniforms politely but firmly asking me to remove my hat. ’twill be interesting to see if any of that still applies. Somewhere in A&M’s student union may be my lost youth… I know I had it the last time I visited…
And for those of you who can’t make it to College Station… have no fear, I will be coming back to Texas again this year, for worldcon in San Antonio over Labor Day. It’s too late to nominate for the Hugos now, but there’s still plenty of time to sign up for LoneStarCon 3, and see them awarded.
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Tags: conventions, travels
Once More, At Home
September 4, 2012 at 5:34 pm
Home from Chicago and Chicon 7.
A terrific worldcon, one of the best in years. Everything a worldcon should be.
More later, when I catch my breath and answer some of my emails.
((LATER))
For those who could not be with us at Chicon, YouTube has my moment in the sun, the presentation of the award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form.
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FWIW, the voting stats released after the awards ceremony reveal that GAME OF THRONES would have placed two episodes (“Baelor” and “The Pointy End”) on the ballot in Short Form, if the concom had not decided to place us in Long Form instead. A third episode would just have missed the cut.
Thanks for everyone who nominated us in either category… thanks to everyone who nominated, period. That really is the heart of the Hugo process.
((STILL LATER))
And for those who missed my GAME OF THRONES panel, Mo Ryan has chronicled it with a blog and podcast. Check it out here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/04/game-of-thrones-season-3-characters_n_1854918.html
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Tags: conventions, worldcon
Bring Me the Head of Howard Phillips Lovecraft
August 14, 2012 at 1:26 pm
Actually, TWO heads would be even better.
It occurs to me that I have been so busy lately that I have not yet gotten around to announcing that (1) A DANCE WITH DRAGONS has been nominated for the World Fantasy Award in the “Best Novel” category, and (2) the World Fantasy Award jury has also selected me as one of the winners of their Lifetime Achievement Award this year.
The World Fantasy Award is one of the more complicated honors in our field. Here’s how it works. A five-person jury is selected. The members of the previous World Fantasy Con and the upcoming World Fantasy Con receive a nominating ballot, and nominate two finalists in each award category. The jury adds three additional nominees. Then the jury selects the winner from among the five finalists.
This year’s finalists for Best Novel are:
!¢ THOSE ACROSS THE RIVER, Christopher Buehlman (Ace)
!¢ 11/22/63, Stephen King (Scribner; Hodder & Stoughton as 11.22.63)
!¢ A DANCE WITH DRAGONS, George R.R. Martin (Bantam; Harper Voyager UK)
!¢ OSAMA, Lavie Tidhar (PS Publishing)
!¢ AMONG OTHERS, Jo Walton (Tor)
A very distinguished list. My congratulations to all the other finalists.
The rest of the ballot can be found here:
http://www.wfc2012.org/pr-wfawards01.html
The Lifetime Achievement Award is a different deal. That one is announced ahead of time. I was rather startled to learn that the jury had announced ME. After all, my lifetime is not nearly over, and I have lots more achieving ahead of me, I hope… (unless the World Fantasy Award knows something that I do not). I am such a young lad, and devilishly handsome as well.
However, it is a HUGE honor, and I am very thrilled to receive it… especially as the jury also named Alan Garner as the other Lifetime Achievement receipient. If you don’t know Garner’s work, well… you should, damn you. He’s the author of THE OWL SERVICE and THE WEIRDSTONES OF BRISINGAMEN and ELIDOR and all sorts of other great stuff, and was writing terrific fantasies long before fantasy was either popular or fashionable. It’s great to see Garner get some long overdue recognition for his contributions to our genre. Now I’d love to see someone put all his books back into print again.
Past receipients of the Life Achievement award include Ray Bradbury, Ursula K. Le Guin, Theodore Sturgeon, Richard Matheson, Jack Vance, Jack Williamson, Stephen King, Fritz Leiber, Gene Wolfe, and many of my other heroes and role models, so I am going to be in very good company indeed with this one.
The awards will be presented at this year’s World Fantasy Convention in Toronto over Halloween weekend. Alas, I do not think I will be able to attend. My schedule is already pretty full for the rest of 2012, and this one came on me unexpectedly. (Also, I just appeared in Toronto early in the year). But I am sure it will be a great con.
(I do have one of Howard’s heads already, for my werewolf novella “The Skin Trade” from way back when. He proudly wears a Jets cap).
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Coming to Chicago
August 13, 2012 at 11:01 pm
Leaving for Chicon TOMORROW, so I figured I’d bump this one back up to the top.
Should be a great con! See you there, boys and girls.
===================================================================
Worldcon is coming up soon: Chicon 7, to be held in Chicago over Labor Day Weekend (worldcon’s traditional weekend, where it AND IT ALONE belongs). I’ll be there. Hell, I’ve only missed one worldcon in the last thirty years. Of course I will be there.
Just finished nailing down the details of my programming at the con.
Here’s where you will find me:
THURSDAY August 30
3:00 – 4:30 pm autographing, dealer’s room
FRIDAY August 31
1:30 – 3:00 pm autographing, dealer’s room
4:30 – 6:00 pm WILD CARDS panel, Crystal A
SATURDAY September 1
12:00 – 1:30pm GAME OF THRONES discussion w/ Mo Ryan of THE HUFFINGTON POST,
Columbus EF
3:00 – 4:30pm SECRET HISTORY OF SCIENCE FICTION panel w/ Resnick, Dozois, Silverberg,
Crystal B
SUNDAY September 2
1:30 – 3:00pm reading from THE WINDS OF WINTER, Columbus EF
8:00 pm HUGO AWARDS, Hyatt Regency Grand Ballroom
MONDAY September 3
1:30 – 3:00pm autographing, dealer’s room
Of course, I will also be found partying in the evenings. Look for the Brotherhood Without Banners bash. It will be the best party at the con, it always is. If I’m not there, I likely will be soon. I will also be at the Hugo Loser’s Party and Keith’s chili party, but you probably can’t get into those… the BWB parties are open. And if Kansas City throws a bid party (I expect they will), I will be there too.
Cons, as I have said many a time, are a MUCH better place to meet and hang with your favorite author (or me, if your favorite isn’t there) than any booksigning.
Do please note, however: I have scheduled myself for three ninety-minutes autograph sessions, so I will be defacing books for four and a half hours at this worldcon. If you want your book signed, come to one of those. PLEASE do not ask me to sign outside of those scheduled events.
If you come across me walking through the hall, visiting the art show, browsing in the dealer’s room, attending a program item, leaving my panel or rushing to the next one, waiting for a cab, eating dinner, eating lunch, eating breakfast… by all means say hi, but don’t ask me to sign anything. That’s what those autograph sessions are for.
And at parties, or in the bar, hey, by all means, come up, say hi, introduce yourself, start a conversation, offer to buy me a drink (I may or may not accept), flirt with me (I may or may not respond)… but DON’T ask me to sign stuff, okay? And while I certainly don’t mind talking about my books or the TV show, remember, I have done a thousand interviews on these subjects, and asking me about my favorite character or telling me who YOUR favorite character is will likely just send me slouching off to find someone who wants to talk about Jack Vance, sing old TV theme songs, or argue whether Sanchez or Tebow should QB the Jets.
’nuff said.
See you in Chicago, I hope.
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Safe in Spain
July 16, 2012 at 9:55 pm
San Diego Comicon was great fun… but exhausting beyond belief. Somehow I survived, however. Spent all day Sunday on airplanes crossing the Atlantic, and today finds me, jetlagged and weary, in Madrid. I arrived in the morning and slept all day. Just ate some dinner, and am about to go to bed again. By tomorrow morning I should be well-rested for my trip to Aviles.
See you all at CELSIUS!!!
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Leaving on a Jet Plane…
July 11, 2012 at 10:36 am
… in a few hours. This time my destination is San Diego Comicon.
(I was the first registrant at the very first comicon, did I mention? Drew about thirty people to a seedy hotel in Greenwich Village. But I did get to meet Steve Ditko and Fabulous Flo Steinberg. Comicons have grown since).
I expect I will see some of you at the HBO panel. I’m the lucky one, I don’t have to stand in line for hours to get in.
From San Diego, I fly direct to Spain. Look for me in Aviles, Madrid, and Barcelona.
I will be scarce around here until I get back home at month’s end, but I leave the house, the office, and the blog in the hands of my trio of able assistants, Terrible Ty, Rambunctious Raya, and Perky Pat. You may hear from them from time to time while I’m gone.
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